The Nakamura File III
Old friends and relations
“Just, so you know, this might be weird.”
“What? Why?” She looked genuinely worried. I guess after the day we had, anyone would be.
“Chang kinda fell off the face of the Earth when he retired. Haven’t seen him since.”
She squinted like she was trying to pinch her own eyeballs, and sniffling some kind of awful. “You make it sound like you had some kind of break up.”
“Nah. That’s the weird part.”
I knocked.
“Hope you’re good with dogs.”
Honestly, I didn’t want to. You ever hear those science guys talking about parallel universes or alternate timelines and all that? I’d bet you that out of all of the me’s in all of those universes, I’m the only one that did it. Part of me wants to respect the man’s decision. Most of the rest of me doesn’t want to know why he made it. I mean, what do you say to somebody that just stepped out of your life like they were walking off stage?
The knob rattled and clicked.
“Hiya Chang.” Original, brilliant.
Rookie’s face just kept draining.
“Allergies still?”
She nodded, blowing her nose.
“Probably the dog.”
I looked around. It was tidy. Like something from those magazines. They had those little pictures of him and the wife and the dog all over the place.
“The place looks great.” I said, trying to not completely yell towards the kitchen. “Spotless. Miriam finally teach you how to use a mop in your old age?”
Chang laughed. “No, that’s all her. How about you? How are Rose & Cora?”
“Well, uh, we lost Cora a few years back. Rose and I didn’t last much longer than that.”
Chang poked his head out of the kitchen. “I- I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” That’s the pity thing. “Miriam will be heartbroken.”
“Nah, nah, don’t worry about it. Rose’s actually doing alright.”
“Yeah?” Good guy, trying to salvage the conversation.
“Yeah, funny story, she’s actually with Nils from forensics, now.”
“No,” He made the same screwed up face I did when I found out. “Orc Nils?”
I practiced my shrug.
“Huh,” Banks weighed in. “She has a type.”
It got quiet enough that I could hear the metaphorical bowstring creak as she drew it.
“Insufferable, bad teeth.”
I offered a singular digit.
The traitor laughed in the kitchen.
Banks wanted to laugh, but started sneezing instead. Served her right.
That’s when the cat came out, hopping up onto a chair and watching.
“That’ll explain it.” she groaned.
“Chang, When did you get a cat?”
“been a while, now.”
“Thought you hated cats.”
He did, and threatened to eat them on multiple occasions. Probably just for show, but still.
“Guess I don’t really think of him as a cat.”
“what’s Dexter think of that?”
“Oh, he passed a while back.”
Banks leaned in “you think it was the cat?”
I mustered my greatest I’m disappointed in you, now shut up face as Chang finally brought the coffee.
“Alright,” he said, parking himself on the couch. “So what’s up? You didn’t come around just to talk about pets.” Somebody remembered how to put his game face on. “Something must be really screwed up for all this small talk.”
“Wanted to talk about how you got famous.”
I had to watch the wheels spin a moment.
“The raid?” It had been a few years.
“More of what happened leading up to it.” I nodded for Banks to show him the pictures she had.
Chang unfolded his glasses, and put them on.
“Okay?” he flipped through them. “It’s been a while, but these all look the same. You find new film or something?” He handed them back. “I don’t remember these from the file.”
“They’re new.” Banks slid them back into the envelope.
“Today.” I added.
“Shew.”
It was heavy news, but that Nec wasn’t gonna just stop because of a hiccup. “Read us in.”
“Toshiro Nakamura was a teleportation researcher from Japan. Really pushed the field forward. He dabbled in Life Magic to boost his research.”
“Pretty typical.”
“Really?” Like she grew up somewhere nice and safe. Explains a lot.
“Whatever happened next, he got spooked and quit practicing. Then he got sick.”
“The Linger, you think?”
He shrugged. What else could it have been?
“Hold on,” Banks wasn’t tracking. “explain, please.”
“Part of the reason Necromancy’s so brutal isn’t what happens when you start, it’s when you stop.” I said.
“The body’s used to having all this available energy, but then it dries up, zap.” Chang snapped his fingers. “The body burns itself out trying to compensate. It can’t keep the same amount of energy on hand.”
“Like an addict?”
“Like an addict.” I nodded for him to continue.
“So, he’s sick. Research slowed. Grant funds slowed, too. He started up again, going hard. Progress doubled.”
My turn to be impressed.
“Word was he found some kind of artefact and was using it as a component in his work. This ain’t your usual rare item. Not something that just turns up.”
“Rare like?”
“A guy like Nakamura getting this is like finding plutonium under your bed. Naturally, we investigate. Can’t find the artefact, but we grab him, bring him in for questioning.” Chang leaned in, elbows to knees. “Nakamura vanishes from inside the interrogation room. Mid-questioning. The place was shielded. I still can’t figure it out.”
“Hah. That was the week I joined.” I could feel myself rock from the weak laugh.
“Hell of a first week.” Chang sounded no more solid than me.
“Guy was a cutting edge teleportation expert”, Banks offered, “the precinct’s wards aren’t exactly state-of-the-art.”
“Be that as it may, when he did reappear, up in Seamarsh, he was changed. Crazy. Heading up some cabal that helped him keep working. Lots of missing persons back then, especially up there.” He sat back, scratching between the cat’s ears. “Never would have found him, except for dumb luck. There was a traffic incident. He disintegrated half a car and a traffic cop in broad daylight.”
“Pretty shit luck.”
“Matter of perspective, kid.” Chang turned to me.
“That’s when we stepped in.” I said. “The raid.”
“Right. Our old buddy Toshiro went down during the raid. Lucky for us, he had that missing artefact on-hand.”
Banks turned it over. “You think we’re looking for someone operating at that level?” She asked.
“Unlikely.” Chang dismissed the thought. “Probably just some punk kids. Copycats. Necrotaku playing with fire they found on the ‘net.”
The Nakamura File is something fun I’ve put together mixing a gentle affinity for the ‘buddy cop’ and ‘noir’ genres in a modern high fantasy setting. Maybe something along the lines of Bright and Lethal Weapon.
Necrotaku (noun) from the English Necromancy, or death magic, and the Japanese Otaku, or someone with an obsessive interest in a topic